Month: June 2010

Get on your bike and head out for dinner. Tonight is the inaugural “Spoke and Food” event. “Our top level goal is to influence the culture of Seattle. Our hope is that by launching this event, we will prompt people to use their bicycle more to transport themselves to and from the multiple daily events and activities that they normally drive to,” the website states.

Just in time for summer, we’ve launched a new addition here at My Ballard: an email newsletter with a preview of weekend events, both here in Ballard and in surrounding North Seattle neighborhoods. We’re also planning to add a few neighborhood deals in the near future, too. You can sign up painlessly right here, and as always, please let us know what you think.

These kids are proof that summer is finally here!
Mary Balmaceda sent us this photo on Monday afternoon of kids playing in the water feature at Ballard Commons Park. How refreshing! The sun may not be here to stay. Here’s the forecast for the rest of the week.

The walking tour of the 15 to 20 pieces of art was created by 12 artists. The entire tour takes about an hour, although some pieces can be seen from the road so you don’t necessarily have to dedicate an hour. “The theme concerns the natural world in a time of dramatic change,” a press release from Seattle Parks states, “Some of the art is designed to weather in place and erode, while other work incorporates movement and interactive use by visitors.” The art will be on display through September 26th. A map of the tour can be found here (.pdf).

We’ve written about Corky Luster and the Ballard Bee Company and we’ve written about bee swarms in the area. Now Growing a Greener World, a show on PBS, comes to Ballard and focuses an entire episode on the importance of honeybees.Behind the scenes of “Growing a Greener World.” Photo credit: Garden Mentors Inc.

In the show, Luster explains about bee hives and how his business works. The show also introduces viewers to a local landscape designer, Robin Haglund, who designs gardens specifically to attract bees. The entire episode can be found here. Growing a Greener World airs on KCTS (channel 9) at 11 a.m. on Saturdays.

The Department of Planning and Development has approved Azteca’s application for outdoor seating. The new outdoor space is approved at 7.25 feet wide and 28.25 feet long.
This is the second outdoor seating area along this stretch of Market to be approved in the last few months. The Market Arms recently opened with picnic tables and a TV in front of the pub.

Thousands of people flocked to Greenwood this weekend for the annual car show, featuring hundreds of vehicles along a long stretch of Greenwood Ave.
PhinneyWood was there and snapped lots of photos here.
And over in Fremont, it was the opening night of Fremont Outdoor Movies. A big crowd came to watch “Twilight” and see two of the vampires in the movie, Nikki Reed and Elizabeth Reaser. Fremont Universe was there and posted this story.

A man hanging out with friends at Gilman Playground says a man robbed him at gunpoint. It happened just after 10pm on June 20. The victim says he had gone to his friend’s car to get his cell phone when the robber tapped him on the shoulder. When the victim turned around, the robber was pointing a handgun at him demanding everything he had. After robbing him, the gunman ran away on foot. The police report does not list a description of the robber.

Just before 5 p.m. on Friday evening, more than a dozen fire units were dispatched to NW 61st St and 32nd Av NW after a minivan hit a house. News helicopters also hovered over the scene.

A neighbor sent us this photo and says, “The driver of the van lost control when his front passenger tire blew out. A parked small SUV took some of the impact redirecting the van into the garage wall.”